verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To convert (a fat or oil) into soap. transitive
2. 2
   convert into soap by hydrolizing an ester into an acid and alcohol as a result of treating it with an alkali wordnet
3. 3
   To be converted into soap. intransitive
4. 4
   become converted into soap by being hydrolized into an acid and alcohol as a result of being treated with an alkali wordnet
5. 5
   To hydrolyze (an ester) using an alkali. transitive

Etymology

From French saponifier, from Late Latin sāpō, sāpōnem (“soap”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.